Matisse Drops Debut Video

Saturday night ( December 8 ) Toronto based vocalist Matisse debuted his first video at REVIVAL in Toronto – along with a live performance, full band at his back.

Although my arrival was a bit late due to a poetry reading at a friends spot (sans finger snaps), we were able to catch the final few tracks of Matisse’s first set with his full band, which was sounding very solid. I admit I hadn’t been able to catch Matisse (and The Playground) in quite some time, and it was great to see a string of originals, as previous gigs I’d caught had been more aimed toward rocking covers – very good covers – simply a nice change of scenery. Matisse’s backup singer melded very well with his vocals, a solid band, and as always impressive keys with vocals by Matisse. He maintained the unique facet of his performance by bringing out the keytar in his final track to funk-out with the large female contingent who jammed out in the front few rows.

Later in the evening, Mattise, drummer Adam Tune, and former Funky Technician (DMC Champ) Jr. Flo performed an impressive collaborative set where well known hit instrumentals (Kanye West, Timbaland, Nelly Furtado, Prince, etc.) were remade with keys and drum elements, and samples manipulated by Jr. Flo with his flawless turntablism skills, still one of the illest deejays around – even if his skills are more often flexed in the “club” environment now (be sure to check out the recurring “Symphony” events featuring Jr. Flo and a live band). A small portion of the crowd headed toward the doors as I guess they didn’t like their club hits tainted with a live band, but a vast majority of the crowd were jamming out and loving it. Stay on the look out for future performances by Keys & Crates.

The video, shot by Matt Mitchell and Triple Threat Entertainment, was a great fit for the new single “Round N Round”, very clean and crisp. The clip has the standard aspects of an R&B video for dramatic effect, but done in a create and more importantly tasteful manner – not requiring a vanishing act of clothing for 3/4 of the video. One person with me said at points they felt a bit dizzy by the spinning camera effects, but I noted that it was likely an effect to coincide with the title of the song.

Check out TheCyberKrib United exclusive link to the “Round N Round” video…